And although the wound which destroyed Vettel’s race was inflicted not by Webber, but by the front wing of Lewis Hamilton’s car, it came as Vettel was straining to stay alongside his team mate who had out-accelerated him into the first corner.

A slow return to the pits for a new tyre condemned Vettel to finishing outside the points. His race was saved by the safety car, which cut his 83-second deficit to the leader to just ten.

He picked cars off quickly, including Felipe Massa at Club, then the likes of Jaime Alguersuari, Vitaly Petrov and Nico H?â??lkenberg who were less well-equipped to defend.

It took him ten laps to find a way past Adrian Sutil, finally barging his way down the inside at The Loop on the penultimate lap to salvage six points for seventh place.

Vettel squeezed Webber hard as the Australian made the best start but Webber said afterwards it hadn’t been a concern: “[There was] plenty of room, you could drive a bus down the middle.”

From then on his race was quite straightforward. He pulled away from Hamilton seemingly at will, only coming under pressure during the restart.

Despite having carried the day he had more sharp words for his team afterwards, accusingly describing his performance as “not bad for a number two”. Christian Horner replied “You can smile now”.

It’s going to take more than a cheesy PR photo to sort this one out. Despite having a 0.8s margin over their rivals in qualifying, Red Bull only reduced McLaren’s constructors’ championship lead by a single point.

149 comments on Webber wins but team tensions hit new high (Red Bull race review)

Before this season started, I never thought Vettel would be the Red Bull driver faltering under pressure.

Horner’s favoritism towards Vettel is pretty blatant. He was rejoicing Vettel’s victory in Valencia last week, without even mentioning the the loss of points, and risk of injury, caused by the Webber crash. This weekend he didn’t seem too thrilled with the victory, in spite of both the Red Bulls finishing in the points.

Including Horner! There’s a photo I can’t find now of Webber staring at Vettel defiantly after the race – even more intriguing though is the expression of Webber’s mechanics, almost taunting Vettel. Really bad internal vibes there!

Who cares? Won’t this just make for more racing and less team orders? I actually like Red Bull now simply because the team is going to race. Most teams don’t race. Unless you are unlucky enough to be teamed with Alonso who will pull off any d!c7 move whenever. I’m also pretty sure its unsafe to be next to Hamilton regardless of whether you are his teammate or not!
Go Red Bull! Keep racing!

I didn’t think we would have to see the drivers competing in the garage, I was looking forward to them competing on the track again. This situation has been bought about mostly by the actions of the TEAM causing a division. I am a Vettel fan and I am embarrassed by the obvious favouritism, which ironically seems to result in Vettel thinking he’s invincible and making him careless.

Hamilton will surely win this year even without having the fastest car, if he starts most races in third place with the two red bulls ahead of him. This way, he will get relatively easy second places with Webber and Vettel alternating the 1st place (and the last), which will finally kill the aspirations of both drivers for this year’s championship (a constant 2nd place is better than an alternating 1st and 7th, etc…)!

Yep , I agree . Treating Webber like 2nd class to Vettel is one thing , but at the cost of many valuable points already lost is another. McLaren will have the last laugh on them even while having a slower car for most of the season.

I genuinely hope Webber wins the title this year. I didn’t think of him much last year and for the first four races this year – Australia is the best example why. However, since Spain he seems to equal Vettel in terms of pace, but beats him in character hands down. Finally, Turkey and Britain made him one of my favourite drivers. Vettel, the driver I liked in Monza 2008 on the other hand, is now my least favourite…

I agree, Vettel is showing more and more signs of being the new schumacher (not in skill but in arrogance and filthy tactics) It is one thing to be risky and pushing to the edge like Hamilton and Alonso do to often great effect, but it is something else completely to fight dirty when lives are at stake. I am completely amazed that Vettel has not been handed at least a reprimand for purposely hitting Sutil (did you see sutils car jolt!). We have seen him consistently trying to push people off track, into garages and into walls and at some point he is going to hurt someone. He claims to have got a bad start due to the clutch but it looked to me that he got off pretty much the same time as webber. His problem was that webber went straight while vettel aimed straight across the track to squeeze webber against the wall, Vettel therefore had to travel further to the first corner and ultimately lost out. If he stopped being so arrogant perhaps he would be doing better than he is.

I am an Australian and Mark Webber’s ‘sour’ attitude over the past few grand prix’s has been extremely embarrassing, right down too the victory cheer when he hopped out of the car and was on the podium. He played dirty tactics against Vettel, his own team mate and now we will most likely continue too see this attitude through out the season.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are the ‘new’ Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso team mates, they are in the quickest cars but they will continue to have disagreements on the track and off the track resulting in neither of them will win the drivers or constructors championship.

Personally I hope that Mark spits the dummy and breaks his contract, moving to Renault to replace Petrov, allowing the Australian Reserve driver, Daniel Riacarrdo, or Kimi Raikkonen to race with Sebastian Vettel at RedBull.

“dirty tactics”..??? You can only be referring to the opening corner of the grand prix in which Webber had every right to dictate his line as he had track position.. In my opinion Vettel put both cars in danger trying to force the issue when he had clearly been passed and it was contact with Hamilton, not Webber, that ultimately caused Vettel to go off the track..

I couldnÂ´t agree more studi06, I never saw “dirty tactics” on Webber. If anybody would be i his place, will do the same: Mark isnÂ´t very young, and chances to have again a world championship winning car may not arise again. In that point he is fighting fairly for that crown, and he have force to front his team and team mate in order to achive his championship goal. When 2010 season started I wanted Vettel to become champion; but race after race Mark won my favour… I hope he becomes 2010 champion. Then he can jump to Renault or do anything else, I will not matter that much after joining Black Jack Brabham as second Aussie champ.

Yer Yer Yer Yer Yer! To all the comments in this reply. Jay M – Im Australian too and i dont see where you are coming from at all. Good on Webber for committing to a line and managing to make it stick. Good on Webber for out doing Vettel with the cr@p wing. Good on him for all of it. He’s is doing it harder that what appears on the surface. Could you imagine going to work and EVERYONE working against you?! My thought is you would struggle. Not win a GP like Mark just. Give him a break hey?

vettel had a greater chance of passing after T1 if he sat behind webber, not only would he blocked hamiton from getting so deep had a better exit and not placed himself in a bad track possition(again) and made himself so vulnerable on the corner exit…
simple fact not of my own judgemnt but as proven examples has displaced that Vettel has very poor race craft at times and add to that, huge brain fades under pressure, this will only improve as he matures.

He seemingly has little respect for his competitor safety at times, and his scare campaign and tactics dont work, no one is fooled.

im a Kiwi and certainly think Mark Webber is doing quite well considering the controversy he has to race under.
ive a funny feeling that its your commentators that are putting you off Mark, just going from what ive heard others say.
in NZ we have the same commentators as the Brits and they certainly dont put you off Mark.

Oh Eric I think I might move to New Zealand. I’m starting to get really sick of the ONE commentators and I love the BBC ones.

But yeah Jay M I’m Australian and I don’t see where you’re coming from. This is most likely Webber’s last and best chance at winning the title and yes speaking out now may make the team even more prone to favouring Vettel, but he is at the end of his career and obviously would rather retire than be treated unfairly.

I am not the biggest Webber fan (I think he can moan a bit too much and also is a little too wreckless). However I think he has been doing your country proud in this volatile situation. Blamed for Vettel crashing into him, treated as second class, clearly not supported by those high up in red bull and having to donate parts of his car to his team mate even though they are both neck and neck in the championship. I am surprised he has not knocked someone out! He has shown again and again what British motorsport fans like to see and that is triumph in the face of adversity. It is the same reason that Hamiltons World championship was so loved here as every barrier the FIA put up was smashed down. Arguably Webbers problem is even worse as it is his own team putting the barriers up!

As for dirty tactics, I am not sure you could have watched the same race as me as I watched Vettel aim straight for webber in an attempt to squeeze him into the wall. Webber as a result of going straight rather than diagonally got to the corner first and held his line as he was entitled to. Vettel then went on to hit literally barge Sutil out of the way on the last lap (something I am amazed he did not get a penalty for).

From the onboard from Hamilton’s car it looked like Vettel’s lunge on Webber at the start was at least as bad as the one that Webber pulled on Barrichello in last year’s German race, which he got a penalty for.

You are an Australian are you not?
Then would you offer the same opinion of Mark Webber if he was German and Sebastian Vettel was Australian? Patriotic perspectives should not be a factor.

By “Dirty Tactics” I am referring to the mind games that and emotional tension, when Sebastian got pole not once did Mark pat him on the back. It was Vettel that was patting Mark on the back, understandably he had got TQ but thats not how Team mates treat each other. Team mates are like Fernando and Felipe, when the hopped out of the car after qualy they congratulated each other on a fair effort.
Then at the start of the race Mark got an absolutely brilliant start and had a guaranteed lead but he decided to give his team mate as little room as possible forcing him onto the dirty stuff. (Similar to Turkey, no?)
Then at the end of the race, “not bad for a number two driver” lets really rub it into his team mate. And not once did he walk up to Sebastian and offer his team mate sympathy.

Aaah yes, I seem to remember a story which involved Nige convincing the hapless Riccardo Patrese to brace his thumbs against the cockpit when going over Monza’s kerbs to get extra speed resulting in Patrese returning to the pits with bleeding thumbs!

Harsh, but if that’s your opinion, you are entitled to it Jay. I’m an Aussie as well and I’m proud that Webber has beaten his team-mate today (last night). Running his team-mate out to the edge of the track was his way of ensuring he had the lead – a.k.a., taking the racing line. Vettel had the option of tucking in behind (just like he had the option of going “the other way” at Turkey) but he chose not to and we all know what happened next.

Mark not congratulating Vettel after getting pole at Silverstone. Go back to Turkey where Webber got pole. I’m pretty sure there was Vettel in the background being obnoxious and pulling faces whilst Webber was basking in the glory of a good lap. I’m pretty sure Vettel didn’t congratulate Mark on that occasion either, he was too upset after his car broke.

This is Mark’s mind games to unsettle Vettel. Sure he doesn’t play the “great sporting team-mate” to Sebastian, but let’s face it. If Sebastian was a great team-mate to start with, then I’m sure they would be getting along better. But the fact of things slowly favouring Sebastian, Mark has every right to say what he said after winning the race, and dropping the bottom lip when his stuff gets taken off him.

If all of this results in Webber being better than his team-mate, then as long as he doesn’t stoop as low as his team-mate’s behaviour off the track, personally, I have no problem with it.

Would you pat the back of the guy that ran into you at Turkey and then was given your front wing to qualify with?

Vettel tried to cover off Mark and failed, Mark moved away from Vettel to avoid a crash. Once Mark was infront his line into the first corner meant he was going ot run wide (just as wide as Hamilton did on the identical line).

It seems to me that Mark is following team orders regarding avoiding contact between the two Red Bulls following Turkey and Vettel isn’t.

I think the ‘sport’ of badminton is better suited to your book of dirty tactics.

Thats really interesting Jay M because you elude to the fact that Webber doesnt support his team mate. Well, i have been watching Mark for many years now – probably just like you. On the weekend, post qualifying and post race – it was the FIRST TIME EVER i DIDNT hear Webber say something positive about Vettel. Im sure there are a lot of people on here that will agree with me too. I can think of quiet a few times this season, 2010, Webber has been utterly gracious in defeat saying things like ‘its a great day for Seb and the Team’, ‘Seb was just that little bit quicker than me today but oh well’, etc. Im very dissapointed that you are sledging his move to squeeze out Vettel. Did you or didnt you not see Vettel clearly put Webber as close to the wall as possible off the start line? If he had of been concerned with only himself, he would have made it to turn one. Vettel, whilst yeilding to webber, couldve realised that and slowed down – whos choice was it to keep going as fast as possible? Vettels! Your comment ‘similar to Turkey, no?’ is interesting too. Webber gave him MORE room than silverstone and Vettel came back across him – EXPECTING – webber to slow! C’mon man! What about when in Malaysia Vettel jumped down the inside of Webber on the first turn?!
Its funny that you mention he has dirty tactics, because whenever Seb doesnt qualify better than Webber, he doesnt want anything to do with anyone – or – ‘my chassis has abnormalities’. Joke!

Yea I agree, all you flower power people go hug a tree and let real people alone.Webber’s had to put up with more junk than most drivers.As for his comments after the win shows that He’s tired of being the red headed step child,tolerated but unloved.Vettel’s driving showed how petulant and uncaring he really is towards others by bashing his car into Sutil like that.

hmmm, mind games in sport, well I never!!!!! What did Steve Waugh call it “Mental disintegration?” If Pettal can’t stand the heat, then he should get out of the kitchen. This is the first time I’ve not read MW giving both the full team including Vettel a positive wrap at a GP be it post qualifying or post race. Bluntly, can’t blame him give the bs the team management pulled this weekend

Webber will leave at the end of 2010,they hate the guts of each other and there is gonna be war before the end of the season,possibly even worse than with Mclaren in 07,getting back to the race,good drive by both men

It’s sure starting to look that way. Although I think Webber’s beef is more with the team than with Vettel. It will be interesting to see if they terminate the contract early. Will Buemi get promoted and we’ll have an all Seb lineup next year at Red Bull?

How on earth did Vettel get such a horrendous start? If the main straight was much longer Hamilton would have blown by him too. As it was he tried to close the door on Hamilton when it was clear that Webber was going to pin him on the outside, which did not work. Frankly I was shocked at how Hamilton backed off and did not dive fully underneath Vettel and give him a little sidepod autograph on the way by. It sucks for him that Hamilton cut his tire but when you make a dreadful start and have to start chopping to keep guys behind that is what happens a certain percentage of the time.

Too true, as Alonso found today as well with his puncture. I think Hamilton has ‘re-calibrated’ his risk taking in general. No point going for a first corner tussle with a driver like Vettel today who’s obviously losing the plot.

They also said that the “dirty” side was not dirty due to the previous races & starts laying down rubber.
Does anyone else consider the wide front wings ridiculous in that they are so easy to catch the rear tyre when you pull out to overtake and ask to be knocked off, Why not the width of the inside of the front tyres instead of the outside? Surely we would have better racing with less downforce and less expensive wings knocked off?

As what you say about Mansell, he didnÂ´t had it easy too, but on the other hand: thatÂ´s the kind of stuff that makes great stories and Formula 1… if Mark makes it to the Championship, imagine what fans in 2030 will say about his winning season.
Anybody remebers Mansell overtake at the infamous “Peraltada” curve in Mexico City circuit in 1992?
Not, Senna, Schummi, Lauda …. Not even Clark could beat that curve; the Nigel dominated it. I cant forget Webbers accident in Le Mans, then he had something like that in Valencia only to win the next race at England.
This is the kind of stories I love….

Vettel’s biggest issue is that he is now obsessed with Webber – all his post race comments are about not being able to ‘fight’ Webber and his lame decision to intimidate Webber at the start cost him big points.

The team need to tell him to pull his head in, and remind him that it is Ferrari and McLaren who he needs to ‘fight’. Webber has more wins and more points – Vettel’s arrogance can only come from blind support within Red Bull, and especially Helmut Marko.

Both titles are there for RB to lose and at this rate they will definitely do so. Very poor considering the quality of the car.

I predicted on an earlier thread on this site, that webber was gonna put vetell wide and shore enough Webber did it. I have never been a Webber Fan, despite being an Aussie, but last night he has won my support well and truely. I hope he demolishes vetell in Germany and for the rest of the season. The reality of it all was that red bull screwed Webber over. If vetell crashes his car, does webber have to give that up to. Horner needs a lesson in driver management. Unlike Rubens and Coultard which were clearly slower then there teammates, Webber has gone toe to toe this year. There has been nothing between them all year and yet Webber is getting screwed.

Understand that its not fair to Webber about the new front wing, but why is he (and many others) under the impression that he is not the #2 driver at Red Bull? Vettel has more career poles and wins than Webber, despite only being a few years in the sport, and when both were in identical machinery last year Vettel had the beating of Webber, 4 wins to 2.

Sure, the gulf is not as wide between Vettel and Webber as say, Lewis and Heikki at McLaren, but nevertheless Webber is the #2 driver.

People have that in their head because Red Bull has up until this weekend always said their drivers are equal. As Mark has said he wouldnâ€™t have signed a contract to be a number two driver. If he had signed on knowing he was number two then I doubt any of this would be going on.

I think he has a right to feel hard done by in regards to Red Bull. The teamâ€™s reaction after Turkey was totally out of line, never the less he and RBR have obviously settled on this. Then 3 races later they pull another stunt on him. Again none of this would be an issue if he was told he was number two, but he would never have agreed to this so it’s a mute point.

gee Cameron, and what did MW do at the end of 2008? If I remember correctly, he got himself a broken leg & a broken shoulder plus other injuries. He didn’t get into the RB5 until a couple of weeks before the start of the 2009 season. I wonder of that may have had anything to do with his slow start to season 2009? (Hint of extreme sarcasm) Took Webber until the end of the season to fully recover – after the plates & pins where removed from his leg. Since then, he has more than matched Vettel.